Duan Hongyi, president of the Nam Kwong Group said Wednesday at the opening ceremony of the Natural Gas Operation Center, in Coloane, that natural gas and clean energy, has officially entered people’s daily lives in Macau.

Chief Executive Chui Sai On and the Director of the Central Government’s Liaison Office Bai Zhijian cut the ribbon at the Center’s opening.

“Along with the use of natural gas in the Seac Pai Van social housing units and the Hengqin campus, as well as the construction of natural gas pipelines intended for other areas, more citizens and industry sectors will be able to enjoy the convenience brought by this green energy in daily life,” said Duan Hongyi quoted today by The Macau Daily Times..

The Operation Center is located at the Avenida Marginal Flor de Lotus in Cotai, next to the Estrada de Seac Pai Van.

It includes a decompression station for receiving high-pressure natural gas from the upstream supply. Received gas will be decompressed here before being put into the distribution network; it can also be compressed here to supply natural gas vehicles.

Meanwhile, the Center will be monitoring the operation of the city’s pipeline network in real-time, as well as being open for public business.

Last July, the Macau government signed a 25-year natural gas concession contract with the Nam Kwong Natural Gas Company (an energy branch of China state-owned Nam Kwong Group enterprise).

The concessionaire is working in the construction of natural gas pipelines, distribution and sale of natural gas through its network to industry sectors, gas facility operators and fuel-filling stations, as well as the direct supply to households.

“Natural gas is very safe, because they follow the international standards for all the systems. The concessionaire has the responsibility to guarantee the uninterruptible and stable supply of the gas. The conditions have changed in the region this year. In the past we only had one source, now there are many sources in the mainland.” said Arnaldo Santos, head of the Office for the Development of the Energy Sector (GDSE).

The public natural gas operator is obligated to complete the distribution infrastructure in Cotai Strips within nine months from the signing of the concession contract. It will start its supply to downtown Taipa and Coloane in two years, and ultimately connect its pipeline network across the city’s main areas in 2017. (macaunews)